Frequent lock-ups and ram overclock question

[WooHoo2You]

This is my build:

Athlon 3800 X2
2 x 512 MB 3200 DDR 400 (added another 2 x 512 same)
a8n-sli Premium
GeForce 6800 256 MB PCI-e
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Value
200 GB SATA HD
160 GB SATA HD
2 x DVD/CD RW
52K Modem
450 watt PSU

I have occasional lock-ups, they seem to have gotten worse since I added
another two 512 dimms, (4 total, making 2 gigs). I tried to overclock the
four dimms back to 400, after the mobo set them to 333. Could I have
damaged the motherboard or the memory? Now my rig locks up almost every
boot (when it gets to the desktop), even after I set the clock back to 333.
Temps do not seem to be an issue. When I take out the newer ram, the lock
ups *almost* disappear??? Also, could this be a power supply issue? How
can I try to diagnose this problem. Event View shows nothing of interest.

 

[WooHoo2You]

memtest86 shows no errors, and the reason I think it may be related to the
power supply is due to the fact then when the fan speed knob is set higher
then the lowest setting, the lock-ups 'seem' to increase. Would the PC also
lock-up if there not enough thermo-grease?

 

[Mike T.]

memtest86 shows no errors, and the reason I think it may be related to the
power supply is due to the fact then when the fan speed knob is set higher
then the lowest setting, the lock-ups 'seem' to increase. Would the PC
also lock-up if there not enough thermo-grease?

This is exactly why I advise people not to overclock. Even if done
successfully*, it damages major components of your PC. Your symptom would
seem to point to a bad power supply. But, it's likely that your mainboard
and/or CPU have also been damaged by running them at speeds they were not
intended to run at. -Dave

* Overclockers would consider a successful overclock to be one in which
their system runs at a certain percentage over default speeds without
stability problems. But, that's like saying a successful car crash is one
in which no human being is hurt. It conveniently forgets about damage
(visible and HIDDEN) to the hardware.

 

[Ian]

This is exactly why I advise people not to overclock. Even if done
successfully*, it damages major components of your PC. Your symptom would
seem to point to a bad power supply. But, it's likely that your mainboard
and/or CPU have also been damaged by running them at speeds they were not
intended to run at. -Dave

* Overclockers would consider a successful overclock to be one in which
their system runs at a certain percentage over default speeds without
stability problems. But, that's like saying a successful car crash is one
in which no human being is hurt. It conveniently forgets about damage
(visible and HIDDEN) to the hardware.

So tell me Mike, on my mobile amd 2400 that has run completely stable at
2.6GHz (watercooled at 8-10C over ambient) for the past two years, waht
exactly have I been damaging?

Overclocking damages nothing, heat does the damage!

A successful o/c is one that is prime and memtest86 stable for at least 24
hours. Overclocking may highlight deficiencies in your mobo, memory,
cooling, psu etc but the overclock will not cause any damage.

 

[KC Computers]

2 x 512 MB 3200 DDR 400 (added another 2 x 512 same)

a8n-sli Premium
I have occasional lock-ups, they seem to have gotten worse since I added
another two 512 dimms, (4 total, making 2 gigs). I tried to overclock the
four dimms back to 400, after the mobo set them to 333. Could I have
damaged the motherboard or the memory? Now my rig locks up almost every
boot (when it gets to the desktop), even after I set the clock back to
333. Temps do not seem to be an issue. When I take out the newer ram, the
lock ups *almost* disappear??? Also, could this be a power supply issue?
How can I try to diagnose this problem. Event View shows nothing of
interest.

Try running a memory test from a bootable floppy or CD. If you get errors,
then
try one memory module at a time to see if one is bad.

Free memory testers can be found at:

http://www.memtest86.com/
http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

 

[Mike T.]

So tell me Mike, on my mobile amd 2400 that has run completely stable at
2.6GHz (watercooled at 8-10C over ambient) for the past two years, waht
exactly have I been damaging?

Longevity of all major components, most specifically including the cpu and
mainboard. Granted, it doesn't matter if you upgrade every couple of years
and THROW AWAY (or destroy) the old hardware. But if you upgrade that
often, you can afford a faster system without overclocking, so there is no
point in overclocking anyway. -Dave

 

[John Doe]

Unfortunately external temperature doesn't clearly indicate internal
temperature. In other words, you can supercool the outside and the
inside can still be too hot.

Longevity of all major components, most specifically including the
cpu and mainboard.
-Dave

Do you have any citations? As far as I know, just increasing clock
speed doesn't hurt anything.

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[Mike T.]

Longevity of all major components, most specifically including the

Do you have any citations? As far as I know, just increasing clock
speed doesn't hurt anything.

Nobody will have a citation for that until someone does a study, based on
MTBF of components at default speeds as opposed to components that are
overclocked. HOWEVER, with all the posts of people complaining that their
system was running just fine until they overclocked it . . .

It's pretty easy to guess what such a study would conclude. -Dave

 

[Fitz]

Check the memory manufacturers website and see what the recommended
voltage is
for your RAM. Then check (in the BIOS) what you ASUS motherboard is
running it at.
Your ASUS board will have the option to change the DDR Voltage.